ABSTRACT
By 1565, political and confessional relations at Bordeaux had reached stalemate. While moderates maintained tacit control of the parlement, the simmering hostility of Catholic magistrates, silenced temporarily, but still a majority within the court, loomed large. Catholic militancy may have been suppressed by the edict of Amboise of March 1563, but the networks and alliances formed during the first war remained intact, and their leaders continued to be vocal in political debate. The crown was well aware of the tentative nature of this dtente, and realized that some form of equitable settlement for both Catholic and Protestant communities was imperative to prevent sectarian violence proliferating across Guyenne once more. Yet matters were being further complicated by the involvement of external powers in the affairs of the south-west. At Bordeaux, the Catholic hierarchy snubbed the peace agreement entirely, moving to bolster its control of the town despite the edict's insistence on non-confrontation within urban settings.
